Carpenter s trestle



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

H. 0. SMITH.

OARPENTBRS TRESTLE.

No. 394,026. Patented Dec. 4, 1888.

Wan 1558125? M .A

hitter-nay,

(No Model.) a 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

H. 0. SMITH.

GARPENTERS TRESTLE. N0. 394,026. & Patented D60. 4, 1888.

7c/ if N PETERS mmvulm n mn Wnshinglcn, n.c.

UNiTEn STATES PATENT EEicE.

HENRY C. SMITH, OF LAlVRENCE, KANSAS.

CARPENTERS TRESTLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part o f Letters Patent No. 394,026, dated December 4, 1888.

Application filed March 27, 1888. Serial No. 268,611. (No model.)

To (all whom it nmy conccrn:

Be it known that I, HENRY O. SMlTH, acitizen of the United States, residing at Lawrence, in the county of Douglas and State of Kansas, have invented new and useful Improvements in (.arpenters and Joiners Trestles, of which the followin is a specification.

My invention relates to improven'lents .in carpenters and joiners trestles; and it has for its object to provide a trestle which is constructed to hold the tool-chest, whereby it will serve as a drawer; furthermore, to provide trestles with means to enable them to be connected one above the other, and also provide steps or platforms to enable the carpenter to ascend; and, furthermore, to provide swinging or folding steps or platforms for the said purpose, which may be folded under the tops of the trestles to enable the latter to be used in the ordinary manner.

With these objects in view the invention consists in a certain novel construction and arrangement of devices, fully set forth hereinafter in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved trestles arranged to form a ladder. Fig. 2 is a vertical central sectional view of the same, showing in dotted lines the folding steps or platforms, &c., raised. Fig. is a perspective view of the upper trestle folded for use as an ordinary trestle. Fig. t is a detail sectional view to show the construction and application of one of the spring-actuated bolts which are employed to hold the pivoted steps or platforms in their raised or folded positions. Fig. 5 is a detail view of one of the brackets which are employed to secure the legs to the tops of the trcstles, the legs being indicated in dotted lines to show their arrangement. Fig. (5 a detail sectional view to show the socket in the lower trestle, in which is inserted the leg of the upper trestle. Fig. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of the lower trestle to illustrate the clamp and show the manner of securing the same to the top of the trestle. Fig. 8 is a detailed view of the tool drawer or chest.

Referring to the drawings, A designates the lower trestle. B designates the upper trestle.

C designates the tops of the trestles, and D designates the supporting-legs thereof. Brackets E E are secured to the under sides of the tops of the trestlcs near their ends, and they are provided with depending sockets or channeled arms F F, in which are mounted the upper ends of the sup nnting-legs. The horizontal plate G, to which those sockets or arms are attached, is secured by nails or screws to the top (I, and the plate is provided with lateral ears g g, which are also secured to the said top.

The top of the upper trestle is provided with a longitudinal nail-groove, ll, and on the top of the lower trestle is mounted aclamping device, which consists of the post I, the post K, having a tapped aperture, is, therein, the vertical shank 79', mounted in a slot, in the end of the top of the trestle, and having a bearing, 7. in its upper end, and the threaded shaft L, mounted in the aligned aperture 7t and bearing a, and provided with a crank to enable it to be rotated. A thumbnut, k engages the lower end of the threaded shank 7t" to hold the latter in place, and when it is desired to remove the clamp the said thumb-nut is loosened and the shank is removed from the slot 7: The top of the lower trestle is provided with the apertures (l (1-, in which are mounted the said posts I and K, and the posts are provided near their lower ends with'shoulders b b, to engage the lower edges of the apertures, and near their upper ends with shoulders c c, to engage the upper edges of the apertures. The inner sides of the apertures a are inclined slightly to enable the posts to be inserted, and the shoulders on the upper ends of the posts are on their outer sides, while those at their lower ends are on their inner sides.

Sockets M are provided in the lower trestle at the upper ends of the rear legs, and the lower ends of the front legs of the upper trestle are mounted therein. The said legs are provided with shoulders m at their sides, to bear on the sides of the sockets and hold the legs from passing too far into the sockets.

Extension-arms N N are mounted at their upper ends on the threaded bolts 21 n, which are attached to the lower ends of the rear legs of the upper trestle, and on the said bolts are mounted thumb-nuts O, which bear against the sides of the extension-arms and clamp them either in the extended position, as shown in Fig. 1, or in the folded position, as shown in Fig. 3.

Transverse horizontal brace-bars P are arranged between intermediate points of the legs, and above the same are pivoted the swinging or folding steps or platforms Q, Q, having arms (1 g, which bear on the transverse braces P when in the horizontal position. Spring-actuated bolts R R are arranged in the said arms, and they are designed, when the steps or platforms are in their folded or' elevated positions, to engage sockets r r in the legs of tne trestles.

The tool-chest S is arranged on the step or platform of the lower trestle, and it may be provided with a lock to enable it to be secured to the trestle. The chest, as will be understood, forms a part of the improved trestle and serves as a drawer to contain the tools used by the carpenter or joiner; but I prefer to so construct the same that it may be removed and carried from place to place in the manner of an ordinary tool-chest. For this purpose I provide the chest with a folding bail, T, which is adapted to fold into the same when the chest is applied to the trestle.

U represents a tool or nail tray provided with swinging arms V V, which are mounted on the same pivots as the arms of the step or platform of the upper trestle, and the said tray is adapted to be swung out beyond the edge of the top of the trestle to enable the tools or nails to be reached, or swung under the top to prevent the tools, &c., from being removed. The swinging arms V are provided near their upper ends with studs or stops W, which strike against the rear sides of the legs of the trestle, and thus limit the swinging movement thereof. The swinging tray and the steps may be folded under the tops of the trestles, and the legs of the upper trestle may be folded for the purpose above mentioned.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. The combination of the lower trestle having its front and rear legs connected by the horizontal brace-bars P P, and provided at the upper ends of its rear legs with the sockets M, the upper trestle having its front and rear legs connected by the brace-bars P, and having its front legs fitted in the sockets M, the extension-arms on the rear legs of. the upper trestle, and the steps or platforms Q Q, provided with arms pivoted to the rear legs of the trestles above the brace-bars P P and bearing on the same when in a horizontal position, the said steps or platforms being adapted, when horizontal, to project beyond the front legs of the trestles, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination of the trestle A, having sockets M at its top, the trestle B, having two of its legs mounted in the said sockets, and the extension-arms attached to the other legs, substantially as specified, for the purpose set forth.

The trestle A, having sockets in its top,

"and the trestle B,havin g its front legs'mounted in the sockets and provided with extensionarms on its rear legs resting on the ground, in combination with the folding platforms or steps Q Q, arranged at intermediate points of the heights of the trestles, substantially as specified.

4. The combination, with the lower trestle having sockets M M in its top, of the upper trestle having its front legs mounted in the said sockets and provided with shoulders m m, as described, the extension-arms N, mounted at their upper ends on threaded bolts n n on the rear legs of the upper trestle, and adapted to be folded against the said legs, and the thumb-nuts mounted on the threaded bolts and adapted to clamp the extension-arms in either the folded or extended position, substantially as specified.

5. In a trestle, the combination, with the top, of the posts mounted thereon, the vertical shank 71:, mounted in a slot, in the end of the said top, and having a bearing in its upper end aligned with a tapped aperture in one of the posts, the thumb-nut on the threaded lower end of the said shank below the top of the trestle, and the threaded shaft mounted in the said bearingand tapped aperture and having a crank on its outer end, substantially as specified.

6. In a trestle, the combination, with the top having the apertures 64 a therein, of the posts I K, having shoulders I) c, engaging the upper and lower sides of the top, the removable shank 76, having a bearing aligned with a tapped aperture in one of the posts, and the threaded shank mounted in the aperture and bearing, as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY 0. SMITH.

\Vitnesses:

F. A. MYERS, II. B. RICHARDS. 

